Daily Gospel Reflection for September 24, 2017 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this parable the vineyard owner offends our modern world’s sense of fairness. Imagine that after a full-day’s work in the field, we are the ones who are tired, hot, and sweaty. Why should the workers who have barely worked receive as much pay for their efforts as those of us who have labored all day? What a battle to combat the envy that threatens to stir in our veins!

This envy flows from our implicit expectation that God should operate by the same rules that govern our earthly sense of fairness. But Divine Mercy and Justice do not operate according to man-made rules and laws. Divine Justice cannot be separated from Divine Mercy. Such a separation is only a construct of our limited human minds. And for that, I am forever thankful.

It is the Pharisee in us that measures out what we receive compared to our neighbor gets. The cure for such unhelpful personal comparisons is gratitude. Consider God’s willingness to welcome us home no matter what we have done, when we bring Him honest hearts that admit our failures. Even moments before death, Our Lord is willing to give us the full payment of eternal joy for our life of sinful failures!

“Oh, how beyond comprehension is God’s mercy! Although a person is at the point of death, the merciful God gives the soul that interior vivid moment, so that if the soul is willing, it has the possibility of returning to God.” Diary of St. Faustina (1698)

Oh how grateful I am that God does not “pay” me according to what I deserve!

Ponder:

Consider a time that you have felt offended or envious because someone received more recognition than you. Can you identify why you felt that way?

Pray:

Heavenly Father, help me to live each day in gratitude for Your many mercies and graces that You shower on me due to Your goodness and not my worthiness. Help me to combat any envy that should arise in me.

Copyright 2017 Meggie K. Daly

Meggie K. Daly is the mother of six adult children and three grandchildren. She is also working on a book that extends the methods of Lectio Divina to the rosary. She is, also, writing her first novel ever so slowly between her ministry work and part-time University Math teaching. She is a retired research scientist.